media release
DEATHS IN CUSTODY WATCH COMMITTEE (WA) Inc.
119 MATHIESON RD ASCOT WA 6104
Tel: 61(0)8 9277-1533 Mobile: 041993-0375
Fax: 61(0)8 9478-4204
E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
URL: http://www.omen.net.au/~dicwc
Patron: Elder Dr Jack Davis, AO, MBE
Wednesday, 21 July 1999
AN ALARMING TREND…
"With the death of an Aboriginal man in Sir Charles Gairdiner
Hospital on Friday 1st October, the toll of custodial deaths not
only continues to rise, but deaths that occur in Police custody
appear back with a vengeance. Of the five deaths of Indigenous
Australians in the care of custodial institutions in Western
Australia in 1999, four have occurred in police custody." Said
Ms Kath Mallott the Chief Executive Officer of the Deaths In
Custody Watch Committee.
"This latest death occurred by hanging. How is it that this man,
with an obvious mental health problem, was detained in a police
cell and not in an appropriate institution with appropriate staff
and facilities for monitoring him in custody? How is it that a
decade after the Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Deaths In
Custody (RCIADIC), places of detention still exist that permit
self-harm by hanging, in clear contravention of recommendation
165 of the Royal Commission, which states:"
…Police and Corrective Services authorities should
carefully scrutinise equipment and facilities provided at
institutions with a view to eliminating and/or reducing
the potential for harm. Similarly, steps should be taken
to screen hanging points in police and prison cells.
"The deadly custodial events of tjimhis year indicate that it is
not implemented in some police facilities."
"Have new custodial facilities, which contravene this
recommendation, been approved by government and built since the
Royal Commission? Did the Federal Government fund programmes in
this state to eliminate such hazards? Where did you spend the
Canberra money Mr Court? These questions may be answered by the
Auditor General." Ms Mallott questioned and suggested.
"And why did it take from 2:00pm Friday to 9:00am Monday for the
family and appropriate people to be notified? Such time that the
family were notified of the death of their loved one by the
media! The challenge is there for the Court Government and its
instrumentalities, 339 recommendations, and in a decade only ten
percent of the custodial focus actually and honestly
implemented." She concluded.
Media Contact: Kath Mallott 08 9277-1533 041993-0375
Deaths In Custody Watch Committee (WA) Inc)
119 Mathieson Road, REDCLIFFE, Western Australia, 6104
"The beginning of the cause of deaths in custody does not occur within the
confines of police and prison cells or in the minds of the victims.
Initially it starts in the minds of those who allow it to happen."
Elder Dr. Jack Davis (OA, MBE)
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.omen.net.au/~dicwc *
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